{{Ilelecbanner12}}{{Ilcong2012toc}}The [[United States House of Representatives elections, 2012|2012 U.S. House of Representatives]] elections in [[Illinois]] will take place on [[United States Congress elections, 2012|November 6, 2012]]. Voters '''will elect 18 candidates to serve in the [[U.S. House]]''', one from each of the state's 18 congressional districts.

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{{Ilelecbanner12}}{{Ilcong2012toc}}The [[United States House of Representatives elections, 2012|2012 U.S. House of Representatives]] elections in [[Illinois]] took place on [[United States Congress elections, 2012|November 6, 2012]]. Voters '''elected 18 candidates to serve in the [[U.S. House]]''', one from each of the state's 18 congressional districts.

{{Congintro2012

{{Congintro2012

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|Primary date=March 20, 2012

|Primary date=March 20, 2012

|Primary=[[Illinois]] has a mixed-hybrid primary system. Voters can change parties each year but must declare a party affiliation at the polls. Depending on which party is chosen, the voter will then be counted as registered for that party. Voters may change party affiliation at polls or caucus.

|Primary=[[Illinois]] has a mixed-hybrid primary system. Voters can change parties each year but must declare a party affiliation at the polls. Depending on which party is chosen, the voter will then be counted as registered for that party. Voters may change party affiliation at polls or caucus.

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|Voter registration=Voters had to register to [[Voting in the 2012 primary elections|vote in the primary]] by February 21. For the [[Voting in the 2012 general elections|general election]], the voter registration deadline is October 9. A "grace period" is also available, allowing voter registration until three days before an election.<ref>[http://elections.il.gov/Downloads/ElectionInformation/PDF/2012Calendar.pdf ''Illinois Board of Elections'' "2012 Election Calendar," Accessed July 21, 2012]</ref><ref>[http://www.elections.il.gov/Downloads/ElectionInformation/PDF/registervote.pdf ''Illinois Board of Elections'' "Registering to Vote in Illinois," Accessed July 21, 2012]</ref>

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|Voter registration=Voters had to register to [[Voting in the 2012 primary elections|vote in the primary]] by February 21. For the [[Voting in the 2012 general elections|general election]], the voter registration deadline was October 9. A "grace period" is also available, allowing voter registration until three days before an election.<ref>[http://elections.il.gov/Downloads/ElectionInformation/PDF/2012Calendar.pdf ''Illinois Board of Elections'' "2012 Election Calendar," Accessed July 21, 2012]</ref><ref>[http://www.elections.il.gov/Downloads/ElectionInformation/PDF/registervote.pdf ''Illinois Board of Elections'' "Registering to Vote in Illinois," Accessed July 21, 2012]</ref>

|State=Illinois

|State=Illinois

|Incumbent=}}

|Incumbent=}}

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According to the ''New York Times'' race ratings in October 2012, six of the 18 districts are considered to be in play. Those are the [[Illinois' 8th congressional district elections, 2012|8th]], [[Illinois' 10th congressional district elections, 2012|10th]], [[Illinois' 11th congressional district elections, 2012|11th]], [[Illinois' 12th congressional district elections, 2012|12th]], [[Illinois' 13th congressional district elections, 2012|13th]], and [[Illinois' 17th congressional district elections, 2012|17th]] districts.<ref>[http://elections.nytimes.com/2012/ratings/house ''New York Times'' "House Race Ratings," Accessed July 25, 2012]</ref>

According to the ''New York Times'' race ratings in October 2012, six of the 18 districts are considered to be in play. Those are the [[Illinois' 8th congressional district elections, 2012|8th]], [[Illinois' 10th congressional district elections, 2012|10th]], [[Illinois' 11th congressional district elections, 2012|11th]], [[Illinois' 12th congressional district elections, 2012|12th]], [[Illinois' 13th congressional district elections, 2012|13th]], and [[Illinois' 17th congressional district elections, 2012|17th]] districts.<ref>[http://elections.nytimes.com/2012/ratings/house ''New York Times'' "House Race Ratings," Accessed July 25, 2012]</ref>

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The ''Center for Voting and Democracy'' (Fairvote) [[FairVote's Monopoly Politics 2012|projects]] that Democrats will win seven districts while Republicans will win two seats. It does not make a projection for the remaining nine districts.<ref>[http://www.fairvote.org/assets/2012-Redistricting/ILRedistrictingAnalysis.pdf'' "2011 Redistricting and 2012 Elections in Illinois," September 2012]</ref>

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The ''Center for Voting and Democracy'' (Fairvote) [[FairVote's Monopoly Politics 2012|projected]] that Democrats would win seven districts while Republicans would win two seats. It did not make a projection for the remaining nine districts.<ref>[http://www.fairvote.org/assets/2012-Redistricting/ILRedistrictingAnalysis.pdf'' "2011 Redistricting and 2012 Elections in Illinois," September 2012]</ref>

==Primary competitiveness==

==Primary competitiveness==

:: ''See also: [[National contested primary average during the 2012 U.S. congressional elections]]''

:: ''See also: [[National contested primary average during the 2012 U.S. congressional elections]]''

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Illinois is tied with Tennessee and Texas for having the '''19th''' most competitive congressional primaries in 2012, with 55.56% of major party primaries having been contested (20 out of 36). The national average is 54.31%.

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Illinois was tied with Tennessee and Texas for having the '''19th''' most competitive congressional primaries in 2012, with 55.56% of major party primaries having been contested (20 out of 36). The national average was 54.31%.

Heading into the November 6 election, the Republican Party holds 11 of the 19 Congressional seats from [[Illinois]]. However, the state lost one seat after the 2010 census and will elect 18 representatives.

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Heading into the November 6 election, the Republican Party held 11 of the 19 Congressional seats from [[Illinois]]. However, the state lost one seat after the 2010 census and elected 18 representatives.

{{Ilcongpartisan12}}

{{Ilcongpartisan12}}

===Incumbents===

===Incumbents===

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Heading into the 2012 election, the incumbents for the 19 congressional districts are:

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Heading into the 2012 election, the incumbents for the 19 congressional districts were:

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{| class="wikitable sortable" style="background:none; width:480px;"

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| [[John Shimkus]]||{{red dot}}|| align="center"|19

| [[John Shimkus]]||{{red dot}}|| align="center"|19

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==Margin of victory for winners==

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There were a total of 18 seats up for election in 2012 in Illinois. The following table shows the margin of victory for each district winner, which is calculated by examining the percentage difference between the top-two vote getters. If the race was uncontested, the margin of victory is listed as 100%.

[[File:Illinois' Congressional Districts Before and After the 2010 Census Redistricting.jpg|link=http://www.censusviewer.com/district-maps/2012/09/Illinois-congressional-districts-comparison-2001-2011/|thumb|450px|This is [http://www.censusviewer.com/district-maps/2012/09/Illinois-congressional-districts-comparison-2001-2011/ a map of the congressional districts of Illinois] before and after the [[Redistricting in Illinois|2010 redistricting]]. The image also includes the partisan breakdown of the districts that are close in registration figures.]]

[[File:Illinois' Congressional Districts Before and After the 2010 Census Redistricting.jpg|link=http://www.censusviewer.com/district-maps/2012/09/Illinois-congressional-districts-comparison-2001-2011/|thumb|450px|This is [http://www.censusviewer.com/district-maps/2012/09/Illinois-congressional-districts-comparison-2001-2011/ a map of the congressional districts of Illinois] before and after the [[Redistricting in Illinois|2010 redistricting]]. The image also includes the partisan breakdown of the districts that are close in registration figures.]]

The [http://www.Washingtonpost.com Washington Post] listed the [[United States House of Representatives|House of Representatives]] elections in [[Illinois]] in 2012 as one of the [http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-fix/post/the-10-states-that-will-determine-control-of-the-house-in-2012/2011/11/18/gIQAXZYCZN_blog.html10 states that could determine whether Democrats retake the House] or [[Republican]] holds its majority in 2013.<ref name="WP">[http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-fix/post/the-10-states-that-will-determine-control-of-the-house-in-2012/2011/11/18/gIQAXZYCZN_blog.html ''Washington Post'' "The 10 states that will determine control of the House in 2012" Accessed April 25, 2012]</ref> [[Illinois]] ranked 3rd on the list.<ref name="WP"/>

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The [http://www.Washingtonpost.com Washington Post] listed the [[United States House of Representatives|House of Representatives]] elections in [[Illinois]] in 2012 as one of the [http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-fix/post/the-10-states-that-will-determine-control-of-the-house-in-2012/2011/11/18/gIQAXZYCZN_blog.html10 states that could determine whether Democrats would retake the House] or [[Republican]]s would hold their majority in 2013.<ref name="WP">[http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-fix/post/the-10-states-that-will-determine-control-of-the-house-in-2012/2011/11/18/gIQAXZYCZN_blog.html ''Washington Post'' "The 10 states that will determine control of the House in 2012" Accessed April 25, 2012]</ref> [[Illinois]] ranked 3rd on the list.<ref name="WP"/>

==Impact of redistricting==

==Impact of redistricting==

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With the 2011 redistricting, Illinois lost 1 of its current 19 House seats because the state's population failed to grow as fast as in other states.<ref name="redistricting"/> [[Illinois]] has had 11 [[Republican]] congressmen and 8 [[Democrats]] since the November 2010 election.<ref name="redistricting"/> The new map, designed by the dominant Democrats, could flip that advantage to as many as 12 Democrats and only 6 Republicans.<ref name="redistricting">[http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/ct-met-illinois-whos-your-congressman-20120220,0,3450485.story ''Chicago Tribune'' "Odd geography in new Illinois congressional map:Millions of constituents will find their representative has changed" Accessed February 22, 2012]</ref>

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With the 2011 redistricting, Illinois lost 1 of its current 19 House seats because the state's population failed to grow as fast as in other states.<ref name="redistricting"/> [[Illinois]] had 11 [[Republican]] congressmen and 8 [[Democrats]] after the November 2010 election.<ref name="redistricting"/> The new map, designed by the dominant Democrats, flipped that advantage to 12 Democrats and only 6 Republicans.<ref name="redistricting">[http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/ct-met-illinois-whos-your-congressman-20120220,0,3450485.story ''Chicago Tribune'' "Odd geography in new Illinois congressional map:Millions of constituents will find their representative has changed" Accessed February 22, 2012]</ref>

Primary:Illinois has a mixed-hybrid primary system. Voters can change parties each year but must declare a party affiliation at the polls. Depending on which party is chosen, the voter will then be counted as registered for that party. Voters may change party affiliation at polls or caucus.

Voter registration: Voters had to register to vote in the primary by February 21. For the general election, the voter registration deadline was October 9. A "grace period" is also available, allowing voter registration until three days before an election.[1][2]

According to the New York Times race ratings in October 2012, six of the 18 districts are considered to be in play. Those are the 8th, 10th, 11th, 12th, 13th, and 17th districts.[3]

The Center for Voting and Democracy (Fairvote) projected that Democrats would win seven districts while Republicans would win two seats. It did not make a projection for the remaining nine districts.[4]

Primary competitiveness

Illinois was tied with Tennessee and Texas for having the 19th most competitive congressional primaries in 2012, with 55.56% of major party primaries having been contested (20 out of 36). The national average was 54.31%.

Eighteen U.S. House incumbents ran for re-election in Illinois in 2012. 8 of those 18 (44.44%) faced a primary challenger. Nationwide, 200 out of the 386 incumbents seeking re-election faced a primary challenger (51.81%).

Partisan breakdown

Heading into the November 6 election, the Republican Party held 11 of the 19 Congressional seats from Illinois. However, the state lost one seat after the 2010 census and elected 18 representatives.

Margin of victory for winners

There were a total of 18 seats up for election in 2012 in Illinois. The following table shows the margin of victory for each district winner, which is calculated by examining the percentage difference between the top-two vote getters. If the race was uncontested, the margin of victory is listed as 100%.

Candidates

Note: Election results were added on election night as races were called. Vote totals were added after official election results had been certified. For more information about Ballotpedia's election coverage plan, click here. If you find any errors in this list, please email: Geoff Pallay.

Impact of redistricting

With the 2011 redistricting, Illinois lost 1 of its current 19 House seats because the state's population failed to grow as fast as in other states.[64]Illinois had 11 Republican congressmen and 8 Democrats after the November 2010 election.[64] The new map, designed by the dominant Democrats, flipped that advantage to 12 Democrats and only 6 Republicans.[64]